Tuesday, May 5, 2020

Entrepreneurship & Innovation Contemporary Issues - Free Sample

Question: Discuss about the Contemporary Issues in Entrepreneurship and Innovation. Answer: Introduction Organisations worldwide face various types of problems and issues that hinder their long-term growth and development. In this regard, wicked problems can be referred to as the issues faced by the organisation that does not have a definite solution and are rather complex to be resolved. Wicked problems hamper the future success and survival of an organisation and thus need to be resolved through the application of creative and innovative Solutions (Contemporary Government Challenges, 2007). The present report, in this regard, aims to critically analyse and examine the wicked problem faced by 7-Eleven organisation. It investigates and evaluates the effectiveness of the organisations strategy in addressing the solution of the problem. In addition to this, the relevance of the organisational solution to the problem with the contemporary entrepreneurship and innovation issues is discussed in detail in the report. The recommendations to incorporate the entrepreneurial thinking for improvin g the proposed solution of the organisation is also provided in the report. Discussion of the problem and the opportunity or solution Description of the wicked problem faced by 7-Eleven Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) is becoming one of the most critical problem faced by corporations in Australia. This is due to the rapid increase in the rate of employees exploitation at workplaces in the country (Safety A Wicked Problem, 2010). The problem of Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) has faced by 7-Eleven Stores Pty Ltd, a franchise of the US based 7-Eleven Inc, operating its convenience stores in Australia. The problem of OHS was highlighted when a large number of employees of the company raised their allegations against their exploitation by the senior management in the convenience stores. The employees were largely underpaid and were also threatened by the senior managers at the workplace for compelling them to work for longer durations (Karp, 2016). The employees working in the franchise stores were largely international students who were subjected to face physical violence and abuse at the workplace. The head office of the convenience stores in Australia was also reluctant to address the complaints of the employees against the misconduct of the employers (Ferguson et al., 2015). The problem of employees safety and protection occurred in 7-Eleven convenience stores can be referred to as occupational health and safety wicked problem. The resolution of the problem requires the senior management to introduce safety framework that demonstrates the Code of Conduct required to be followed by both the employers and employees. The development of an effective solution to the problem is very complex and requires highly creative solutions. The employers need to gain an in-depth understanding of the various domains of health and safety to develop effective guidelines of Code of Conduct for ensuring employees protection . Occupational safety of employees at the workplace requires systemic thinking by all the levels of an organization (Marginson et al., 2010). It involves analysing and examining of the organisations microsystems and the external ecosystems of an individual communities and societies. The key stakeholders of 7-Eleven that should be involved in the developmen t of a creative solution for ensuring employees well-being at the workplace are management and the communities. This is due to their larger involvement in identifying the roles and responsibilities of an individual within the organisation and in the society. Thus, the development of an effective solution to employees safety as a wicked problem requires the application and integration of holistic and systematic approaches requiring collaboration among all the key stakeholders (Pardeck, 2015). The wicked problem of employees safety is being addressed by the Australia corporations through the implementation of Fair Work Act. The laws and regulations of the act mainly govern the relationship between employer and employees in the country. It promotes the introduction of fair work practices and prevention of employees discrimination by the employers (Rogers, 2010). However, the occurrence of wicked problem regarding the employees safety and protection at 7-Eleven highlighted the significance of systematic thinking and developing innovative solutions for ensuring employees well-being at workplaces. The occurrence of such a wicked problem has negatively impacted its brand reputation worldwide and thus raised concerns for the company to develop an effective and creative solution to prevent the occurrence of such issues in the future context (Stricter laws for franchisors? Responses to the 7-eleven wage scandal, 2016). The implementation of a safety framework for safeguarding the protection of all employees is the major challenge present before all the key stakeholders of 7-Eleven. It requires mindfulness of all the stakeholders for attempting to solve the wickedness of safety and well-being of employees (7-Eleven Scandal an Ethical Failure of Leadership, 2013). The development of a creative solution can be achieved effectively through design-thinking that strives to examine all the sides of a potential solution and requires key stakeholders to think out-of-the-box. However, design-thinking is a very complex approach and requires huge mental efforts from the stakeholders in order to think systematically and creatively (Abbing, 2010). The identification of the causes responsible for exploitation of employees at workplaces is the main challenge present before the stakeholders of 7-Eleven. This is due to lack of complete information about the various environmental, cultural and social issues responsib le for the abuse of employees at 7-Eleven. Thus, it can be said that the problem of employees safety and well-being occurred in the company is a wicked problem due to the complexity involved in the development of an effective solution. Critical Analysis of the Solution, Commercialisation or Opportunity The occurrence of wicked problem relating to employee safety and well-being at the convenience stores of 7-Eleven has caused its head office to pay huge penalties for non-complying with the employment laws of the country. The employers misconduct at franchisees is interrogated by Fair Work Ombudsman of Australia that ordered the employers to pay the employees $ 90,000 as a part of their owned wages. This scandal has negatively impacted the goodwill of the company across the borders and thus caused the necessity for its head office to commercialise a solution for the problem in order to overcome from its negative effects. The head-office of the convenience stores in Australia developed an independent investigation panel for identifying the causes of the occurrence of the wicked problem of employee safety in its franchisees. The investigation panel conducted the store audits, enhanced payroll and introduced major changes in the business model of the franchises (Hardy, 2015). These chan ges include implementation of mandatory training sessions for the senior managers of the franchises to provide them an in-depth knowledge about the standard business practices and procedures that should be followed by them. It also included maintaining of an appropriate wages record keeping system as a clear evidence of the remuneration provided by the company to the employees. This was followed by the termination of the chief executives and major shareholders of the company by the head office (Sun, 2015). The independent panel developed holds the responsibility of ensuring that underpaid employees receive their full entitlements. Also, there has been the introduction of a whistleblower hotline by the company for facilitating employees to address their grievances to the senior management without any fear. The chairman of the company has taken full authoritative control over the problem and commercialized a solution through the utilisation of external expertise for rectifying the impacts and preventing the occurrence of such problem in the future (Rodan, 2016). The organisations strategy for addressing the wicked problem of employees safety at its workplace seems to be effective but also have some limitations. The limitations include lack of implementation of a safety framework for ensuring that franchises in Australia are complying with their legal obligations towards the employees. This is of extreme importance for protecting the interests of the employees and maximizing their welfare at the workplaces. The introduction of safety framework for ensuring employees well-being need restructuring of the organisational structure for its implementation at all levels. The safety framework can be introduced through development of proper code of conduct that guidelines the behaviour of all the key stakeholders of the company. The stakeholders should be made aware of consequences of breaching the code of conduct in advance (Walsh, n.d.). The safety framework introduced need to be continually monitored and reviewed for identifying any type of misconduct from employers. This can be ensured by the timely audit and adoption of policies encouraging feedback from the employees. The external audits should also take into account the feedback from the employees so that they are able to directly report any type of misconduct from the employers. Thus, 7-Eleven need to link its organisational strategy with the contemporary concepts of entrepreneurship for reforming its overall business model. The companys solution to the problem has incorporated some contemporary concepts such as introducing of whistle-blower hotline and seeking help from external expertise for reviewing and addressing the problem (Rodan, 2016). However, the solution needs to be reformed with its strategic alignment with the concepts of entrepreneurship so that such complex wicked problems can be prevented to occur in the future (Spinelli and McGowan, 2013). Thu s, all these organisational changes need to be introduced in the business model of 7-Eleven for proposing solution to wicked problem of employee safety at its workplace. Recommendations 7-Eleven has although addressed the wicked problem of employees safety in the workplace but the commercial solution developed by the company has some limitations as discussed above. These limitations can be addressed effectively through incorporation of contemporary entrepreneurship and innovation issues such as entrepreneurial thinking and transformative innovation. The wicked problems occurring in an organisation are rather difficult to solve due to their complexity and requiring innovation in the overall business structure (Spinelli and McGowan, 2013). The problem of employees grievances at 7-Eleven regarding underpayment and physical violence comes under Occupational Safety Health (OHS) issues in Australia that is characterised as a wicked problem due to its complex nature. In this context, it is highly significant for 7-Eleven to think creatively and bring large scale innovation changes in its business model. This involves entrepreneurial thinking by the senior management of the company. Entrepreneurial thinking involves introduction of such work practices that promotes productivity of employees (Hicks, 2004). The employees should feel safe and secure at the workplace for maximising their productivity. The productive employees increase the organisational effectiveness through optimising its profitability and sales. This can be done through adoption of safety framework at the convenience stores of 7-Eleven that provides the code of conduct need to be followed by both the employers and employees. Entrepreneurial thinking involves gaining a proper understanding of the importance of strengthening the brand image of the company through ensuring workplace protection of employees (Hicks, 2004). Thus, the senior management of 7-Eleven needs to understand that violence and unsafe working conditions reduce employees morale as well as productivity. Thus, they should develop a safer and non-threatening work environment through the development of proper code of conduct. Employees security can be safeguarded though introduction of proper risk assessment and prevention strategies as a part of the safety framework of the company. Risk assessment involves carrying out a safety audit that includes detailed examination of workplace related risks that can impact the well-being of employees (Martin, 2009). This will help in the identification of any type of fraudulent practices such as employees were compelled to work for longer hours in the 7-Eleven convenience stores. Prevention strategies involves imparting proper training to the employees on all safety and security procedures including the reporting authority to be addressed if they are subjected to any type of physical violence at t he workplace. This also involves providing knowledge to the employees regarding their rights and duties so that they do not suffer any exploitation from the employers as that faced by the company previously. The development of a safety framework that defines the code of conduct, risk assessment and prevention strategies require creative thinking at all the level of the company. It is possible with application of concepts of entrepreneurial thinking that emphasises on design-thinking. Design-thinking process can be categorised as a four step process that involves identification of the opportunity area, developing creative solution, implementing the solution developed practically and reviewing the results obtained (Ouden, 2011). Thus, the introduction of safety framework must be followed by its continuous evaluation for examining its effectiveness to ensure employees protection by the company. Thus, entrepreneurial thinking should be incorporated as a part of organisational solution to the wicked problem of employees safety and protection at its workplace. 7-Eleven also need to incorporate some transformational changes in its problem-solving approach to the wicked problem of employees safe ty. The adoption of a systematic problem-solving approach is very essential to change the business model and eventually leading to organisational growth and success (Grnig and Khn, 2009). The application of problem-solving approach is critical for the business model of 7-Eleven to combat with issues related to employees welfare and protection. The development of a problem-solving approach is very critical in implementing proactive measures so that corrective steps can be taken to mitigate the occurrence of such issues in the future. It involves developing solution for a problem by taking into account all the existing opportunities for effectively resolving a problem. The first step involves defining exactly the nature of the problem and identifying its root cause of occurrence. This is followed by developing possible strategies for addressing the problem and selection of the most appropriate strategy for resolving the problem in context (Liedtka et al., 2013). The last step of the process involves measuring the outcome achieved and its continual review by the management of the company. Fair Work Act in Australia regulates and monitors all the policies related to employee protection. The government of the country needs need reform the act through the implementation of problem-solving approach that mandates workplaces to be ethically and legally responsible for the employees conditions. These policies should be supported by considerable threat of legal liability or reputational damage. Transformative innovation is the strategic key for resolving the wicked and complex problems such as of employees safety at workplace (Walsh, n.d.). The management of 7-Eleven also needs to consider the impact of ecosystems on the employees well-being. The management must gain an appropriate understanding of the role of an individual in the communities and societies while developing safety framework for employees welfare. The organisational behaviour of employees is highly influenced by the environment and the existing communities. Thus, employers need to implement and adopt social work practices that aim at protecting its existing environment and communities (Pardeck, 2015). The protection of ecosystems eventually leads to sustainable growth of an organisation through ensuring protection of all its ley stakeholders. In this regard, it is highly important for 7-Eleven to understand that the performance of employees is interrelated with the ecological system. The scandal of 7-Eleven revealed that threatening is made to the families of the employees overseas. This further caused employees of the company to raise their voices agains t the misconduct of the employers that negatively impacted the brand reputation of 7-Eleven (Brandsttter and Eliasz, 2001). Therefore, in order to overcome from the occurrence of such issues in the future, the management needs to understand that employees well-being is directly related with their macro and micro ecosystems. Micro- ecosystem comprises of working environment of the organisation and the macro-ecosystems consist of their interaction with the external environment and communities. The employers also hold the responsibility of developing a safe and healthy work environment wherein employees feel secured and motivated to perform their job role (Brandsttter and Eliasz, 2001). The employees at 7-Eleven were also enforced to work for longer durations than their normal working hours. In addition to this, they were also subjected to physical violence from the employers at the work places. Thus, senior management of the company should develop safety policies to improve its working environment so that the employees feel secured at the workplace. The micro and macro-ecosystems plays a critical role in en hancing the performance of the employees and ensuring their well-being at workplaces (Pardeck, 2015). The implementation of an ecological approach defines a new perspective for developing solution to the wicked problem of employees safety for 7-Eleven. It emphasises on the adoption of effective social work intervention for maximising the employees welfare. It provides an integrative approach to the managers of the company for addressing and resolving the problems related to occupational safety of employees (Pardeck, 2015). The employers need to adopt the work practices that ensure the protection of the employees but also of their ecosystems governing their social functioning including the family, community and the environment. The head office of 7-Eleven needs to ensure that employers are adopting such business practices and procedures that maximise the development of both their micro and macro-ecosystems (Brandsttter and Eliasz, 2001). The implementation and adoption of broader entrepreneurship and innovation issues such as entrepreneurial thinking, transformative innovation and ecological approach as discussed above will facilitate 7-Eleven to address effectively the problem of unethical work practices prevalent in its convenience stores in Australia. These entrepreneurial concepts will facilitate senior managers of the company to develop creative and innovative solutions as employees safety is a wicked problem and thus is very complex. It will help the managers to eliminate the dilemma regarding the development of a solution so that this problem does not occur in the future context. Conclusion Thus, it can be stated from the overall discussion held in the report that the wicked problem of employees safety faced by 7-Eleven is very complex in nature and thus possess difficulty in front of the managers to get it resolved. The problem occurred due to the adoption of unethical work practices by in the franchisee stores of the company in Australia. The company commercialised a solution through introducing major structural changes in its business model and adopting some entrepreneurial concepts such as introduction of whistle-blower hotline for addressing the employee complaints. However, the company need to incorporate entrepreneurial and innovation concepts such as entrepreneurial thinking, transformative solution and ecological approach for addressing the problem in an effective way. The integration of these contemporary entrepreneurial concepts in organisational solution is necessary for preventing the occurrence of wicked problem of employee safety in the future. 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